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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27611971">To Think You’re Any Different From an Animal</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MangoQueen/pseuds/MangoQueen'>MangoQueen</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Ever After High</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, Getting Together, I tried to give characterization to two characters who have none, I’m not sorry, Oneshot, Rare paring - Freeform, anyway, it’s gay, ramona is scary™️, so if it’s out of character, the title has no meaning</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 02:34:45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,599</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27611971</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MangoQueen/pseuds/MangoQueen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ramona Badwolf is feared by just about everyone at school. To them, she’s a feral, untamed beast. Good thing it’s Rosabella Beauty’s destiny to fall in love with a beast!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ramona Badwolf/Rosabella Beauty</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>53</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>To Think You’re Any Different From an Animal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Like I said in the tags, the title here has no meaning. It’s just a song lyric shamelessly stolen from Sub Urban (song is called Freak for anyone wondering!). There’s 6 (now 7) works for this ship as of my publication date, and as someone who is a hardcore Ramonabella shipper, that seemed a downright shame, so I wrote this. It’s shitty and I’m probably going to look back on this and cringe some day, but right now, I’m a 14 year old in a global pandemic with a cartoon obsession and too much time on my hands. Without further ado, here’s the story!</p><p>/╲/( ͡° ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° ͡°)/\╱\ ✬✬✬✬✬✬/╲/( ͡° ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° ͡°)/\╱\</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Fear. </p><p>That was what most people based their opinions of Ramona Badwolf on. It was a thought that was constantly nagging at the back of her mind. </p><p>‘They’re afraid of you,’ the voice would whisper at night, when the dorm was quiet and she was alone with the most terrifying thing she could ever imagine: her own thoughts. ‘They’re afraid of you, that’s why you can get away with just about anything.’</p><p>At the Forest Reform School, Ramona had ruled with fear. Every student except for her roommates, Jolly Hook and Jade Wit, had been scared to even glance in her direction. For a school that was a glorified prison, there certainly were some crybabies. Ramona knew just how to send chills up this girl’s spine, just how to make that boy so scared he’d wet himself, how to work her way into one student’s brain in such a way that her name would be synonymous with “terror” for the rest of their life. </p><p>Ramona could smell the fear in her fellow students, and it sent her on a power trip she almost never came back from. She hadn’t even had much choice in the matter at first. From the moment she had walked through the front door, the nervous glances and the whispering had started. She decided to just roll with it, finding that she loved feeling like an alpha, even if it made for a lonely year. </p><p>That first day of school wasn’t her first power trip, the one that had sent her chasing that feeling for the thirteen months. No, that was when she had given the judge at her hearing a dirty look like no other and gotten him so concerned for his own safety that he didn’t even give her a full sentence at the Forest Reform School. Looking back on that day, Ramona supposed it was only her instinct that she would be addicted to the smell of fear. </p><p>The minute Ramona’s court-ordered sentence was up, the headmistress had arranged her transfer back to Ever After High, where she had started her freshman year before The Incident. Not even the strict woman who almost put Milton Grimm to shame with how tight a ship she ran, so to speak, could handle the wolf for one more day. </p><p>Ramona thought things might be different at Ever After High. She would make friends, real ones who didn’t just hang out with her because they shared a living space. People would either like her or not for her personality, rather than instantly despising her yet being too terrified to say anything about it. However, that was not the case. She got in trouble with almost every teacher on her first day back, the only person who would talk to her was that dumb giggly blonde reporter, and she almost exposed her family secret to win a stupid argument with her younger sister. </p><p>At least nobody knew the real reason Ramona was sent away in the first place. </p><p>Sure, there was a rumor going around that Cerise got Ramona sent away, and they way she and Cerise had fought (or nearly fought before their father came out and knocked some sense into them) would suggest this rumor was true. However, that’s all it was: a rumor. The sisters’ near fight was simply instinct (Ramona realized she blamed a lot on her wolfish instincts. It was easier than admitting she might be a little messed up in the head); two sisters’ attempts at proving they were the alpha among them, and nothing more. </p><p>It had nothing to do with why Ramona was sent away to reform school. </p><p>It had nothing to do with the innocent boy who was dead thanks to Ramona’s oversized ego. </p><p>It was a warm Tuesday morning in late September. The students and staff of Ever After High were sent home due to an infestation of sprites, annoying little things that would flitter around everyone’s heads and drive them to insanity should they have stayed any longer. That day would haunt Ramona forever. </p><p>She was playing in the woods with one of her cousins. The two wolves were having a competition, an attempt for another of her cousins to predict which of them would most likely end up as alpha someday. They were fighting. A little boy, who could have been more more than 5, was standing in the woods, too far outside of Hood Hallow for him to not be lost. He inched closer. </p><p>“Romulus, Ramona, watch out for that kid!” Her cousin had directed. </p><p>“He shouldn’t even be in the woods!” Romulus had declared, pounding his fist into his chest. “This is our territory!” </p><p>“I‘ll deal with him!” Ramona had shouted. Before she knew what she was doing, she and the boy were deep in the woods, farther away from Hood Hallow than they should have been. </p><p>“Listen, I don’t want to hurt you,” Ramona had tried to reassure the boy when she saw how much he was shaking. “There’s a way back into Hood Hallow just down this path. I’ll take you there.” </p><p>“Thank you.” The boy stuttered those two words, as though it took all his courage to thank Ramona. </p><p>“Just be thankful it wasn’t my cousin who was doing this,” Ramona scoffed. “If you were with Romulus, you’d never be getting back home. You’d be in his stomach before you were halfway there.” </p><p>But as it turned out, the boy never did make it back home after all. He had lost his footing on a particularly steep hill and fell rolling down, hitting his head on a rock and knocking him unconscious. He landed in a river with a splash. He was facedown, and by the time Ramona had realized and reacted to the situation, he had already inhaled a lot of water. A lot of water. Too much water. He was gone. </p><p>A little boy, an innocent child, dead because Ramona couldn’t just swallow her pride and lead him back to Hood Hallow the way he’d come. If she had sucked it up and matched him back into his village with her hands raised in surrender, maybe he would have still been alive. Knowing that if she had made another decision, someone’s life may have been spared terrified her just as much as the thoughts in her own head. </p><p>Ramona had run as fast as her legs could carry her, which was pretty fast (‘Why couldn’t I have done this before he landed in the creek?’ She scolded herself. ‘Atleast then me might have survived his head injury’.), and got her father. He was alone, waiting for some other wolves from the pack. </p><p>“Dad!” she cried, coming to a stop. “There was this kid and I was taking him back to Hood Hallow and he fell down a hill into a creek… I think he’s dead.” Badwolf’s eyes widened. He followed his daughter to the site where the accident had occurred. </p><p>“Run around to the back border of the village and tell your mother,” he instructed, crouching down by the boy’s limp body. “Hurry.” </p><p>About a minute and a half later, Ramona was flinging the back door of her mother’s house open, screeching to a halt in the kitchen where Cerise was assisting Red Riding Hood in making a pie. </p><p>“Mom!” She practically screamed. </p><p>“Keep your voice down and close that door,” Red chided her sharply but quietly. </p><p>“There’s was a kid in the woods and I was trying to bring him back to the village and I think he’s dead!” </p><p>“You killed someone?!” Cerise shouted, staring at the girl in the doorway in shock. </p><p>“I didn’t kill him, idiot! He fell down a hill into a river!” Ramona remembered doing her best to keep her voice from shaking (how odd a detail to remember, and yet, that was one of the more pleasant moments from that day stored in her memory bank). </p><p>“I’m going to get Granny.” Red took her apron off and hung it up, rushing to the front door. “Ramona, don’t call your sister an idiot please.” </p><p>Soon, the entire village was in the woods at the river where Badwolf stood watching over the body. A woman screamed and rushed to the boy’s side. Ramona hid in the shadows and watched. She learned through whispers she had caught from the villagers that boy’s name was Roland, and that his mother was Red’s first cousin. That made him Ramona’s second cousin, and that knowledge made her feel more guilty. </p><p>Roland’s mother, Elise, demanded to know what happened. She gave Badwolf a glare that said if he didn’t talk soon, her son would be buried in a new fur coat. Ramona stepped out from the tree she was hiding behind. </p><p>“He fell,” she said. “It was an accident.” </p><p>“And you are?” Elise looked Ramona up and down with a look of disgust on her face. “Why was my child in the woods with you?” She practically spat that last word like it was the worst insult she could think of in the moment. </p><p>“He was with me because I was trying to help him get home.” Ramona spoke in the tone you’d talk to a two year old in. “As for why he was here, it’s not my job to watch your kid and make sure he stays where he belongs.” </p><p>Elise didn’t like the implication that Roland’s death was her fault. Not a week later, a judge found Ramona guilty of murder in the second degree. She should have been doing time in prison, but instead, thanks to her fear tactics, she was sent to that hellish school (Ramona wondered just how scared she had to have made that judge). </p><p>What was worse was, after the hearing, her cousin had told her that she would never be anything more than an omega because a true alpha would never have gotten caught. A true alpha, or even a beta, would have taken care of the body (not that a word of it was true, but it still stung. If Ramona had to guess, this was when her obsession with having to be alpha had started). </p><p>Once she had gotten to the forest reform school, they had immediately thrown her in a room with the two other people who had attempted murder (not that they’d gotten away with it, as they were both in Spelementary school when the incidents happened). She guessed the school hoped they would kill each other, but that was not the case. </p><p>Ramona took one look at Jolly Hook’s bionic arm (the real one had gotten cut off by Petra Pan, the girl Jolly supposedly pushes off a cliff when she was 8, that summer) and at the way Jade Wit, the daughter of the White Witch, still dressed and carried herself with an air of regality, despite how she had been in a place designed specifically to break your spirit for six years (she had attempted to strangle her father at age 9), and she decided that she would need them if she were going to leave her mark on the school. </p><p>Instead of killing each other like the school had hoped, Ramona had become best friends and partners in crime with the two girls almost immediately, and for nearly a year before Ramona showed up, they had been more to each other (thankfully, it had worked to their advantage that they were the power couple of the school). </p><p>The three girls dominated nearly everyone before Ramona was shipped back to where her father could deal with her. </p><p>She sat on her bed in her dorm at Ever After High, wondering why she had gone down this road in the first place. She supposed it was because, if they were going to be afraid of her anyways, it might as well be for something. </p><p>‘They’re afraid of you’, the voice in the back of her mind whispered. But that was okay. </p><p>She was afraid of herself too. </p><p>&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;</p><p>Rosabella Beauty knew she should be afraid. She had heard the rumors about Ramona Badwolf, how she had supposedly attempted to kill Cerise Hood, though she somehow got away with only a broken arm. Everyone else in school was on edge whenever she walked into the room. </p><p>Either they had all misjudged Ramona or Rosabella had no self-preservation instincts. </p><p>From the day the half-wolf had come back to Ever After High, the doors busting open, an oddly fitting thunderstorm behind her, Rosabella had felt drawn to her. She couldn’t explain it. She just had a gut feeling that if she befriended this girl, she would find a Beauty beneath the Beast.</p><p>Darling told her she was crazy. </p><p>It was about a month after Ramona had returned to Ever After High when Rosabella was up late making signs for a protest she was going to the next day. It was about 1 in the morning, she went to go get a snack from the vending machine, and she noticed Ramona outside the dance studio, looking in from behind the door, watching whoever was inside.</p><p> Rosabella got a sinking feeling when she considered that maybe everyone was right about Ramona. Maybe she was as bad as everyone said, to be spying on someone in the middle of the night.</p><p>Curiosity (and maybe hope that the other girl had a legitimate reason for what she was doing) was what moved Rosabella’s feet down the hall. </p><p>Ramon whirled around as soon as she heard sounds. Her face was twisted into a snarl. </p><p>“What are you doing?” Ramona snapped, growling in her throat. </p><p>“I… left my Chemythstry thronework in professor Rumplestiltskin’s classroom,” Rosabella lied (or so she thought; she realized a moment later that she had, indeed, left her Chemythstry thronework in professor Rumolestiltskin’s room). “I was just going to get it.” </p><p>“Yeah, likely story, Beauty,” she spat. “I think you were just looking for an excuse to tell your little princess friends that I’m up to something. Well,<br/>
I’ve got news for you: you’ve got nothing on me. Why don’t you just take your little bag of— what are those, vegan chips?— and run back to your dorm before I do something we’ll both regret.” </p><p>“You know what? I want an apology for snapping at me like that. You have no proof of what I may or may not be doing, and threatening me isn’t going to look good for you, either. I will get the other princesses involved, trust me,”  Rosabella said. She took a step forward, towards the girl who was practically towering over her (she was barefoot and Ramona still had her trademark heeled boots on). </p><p>Her heart was hammering in her chest. She wasn’t a religious person in the least (she went to school with a demigod for Grimms’ sake!), but she found herself praying to God that she was right about Ramona. Otherwise, her demand for an apology could mean a serious injury at the very least. </p><p>She mentally chastised herself for allowing the words of everyone else to get in her head, something that went against her very being. Otherwise, she would have dug into the truth about this mysterious girl. Good or bad, at least she would know. If it were bad, she wouldn’t have demanded that apology. If it were good, she wouldn’t have been so hostile in her demand. Either way, her pulse wouldn’t be racing nearly so much right now. </p><p>“Did you… just demand that I say sorry for hurting your feelings?” Ramona asked. She chuckled, and there was an underlying tone to the low sound. Rosabella wasn’t sure if it was danger… or admiration. </p><p>The answer was revealed when the wolf-girl in front of her next spoke: “You’ve got guts, Beauty. I like you.” </p><p>Rosabella liberated a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. Now that her head was clear (or, as clear as it was going to get in this situation, anyway), she was paying more attention to details, such as the blue-gray of Ramona’s eyes, the way her gold headpiece dropped a gold-beaded string that connected to two of her earrings, the white wolf’s head printed on the chest of her blue shirt (not that Rosabella was looking at Ramona’s chest, at least, not on purpose; that was where her eyes just so happened to fall when she looked forward), how red her lipstick true it was. </p><p>Rosabella wondered if it was cherry flavored, then got an image of how she could find out at that very moment (where had that thought come from?!). </p><p>“You looking for a partner in crime?” The smooth, deep voice sent her spiraling back into reality. “Give me about…” Ramona looked behind her into the dance studio, eyes narrowing as though she were trying to solve a complicated equation. “Twenty minutes, tops, and I can help you break in.” She turned back to how she’d been before Rosabella had interrupted… whatever it is she’d been doing. </p><p>The activist recalled a detail she hadn’t known she’d picked up on: how the girl in front of her had kept glancing back into the studio the whole time they were talking. She bit back her temptation to look, too. No, it wasn’t any of her business. Curiosity killed the cat and all that. </p><p>Except… in the case of Rosabella’s story, the curiosity of the Beauty’s father was what got the Beauty imprisoned by the Beast in the first place (well, actually, it was a combination of a storm and the Beauty’s request for a rose, but still, curiosity must have had some part in leading him into the castle!). Things all worked out for them. </p><p>Her brain must have been working on autopilot, because when she had finally mulled it over and decided to leave things alone, she looked and found that she was leaning around Ramona, her hands on the other girl’s waist and back, peering into the dance studio. </p><p>The horror that threatened to flood her bones was halted by what she saw in the studio. It was Justine Dancer, eyes closed, performing the most graceful dance Rosabella had ever seen. </p><p>She was in the middle of at least six consecutive pirouettes, which should have made her dizzy, but seemed to have no effect on the girl. She stood for a moment in an arabesque for a moment before launching into another series of motions too complicated for someone with a little knowledge of ballet as Rosabella to name. All she could say for sure is that it was an allegro that would have made the dancer in the studio look almost panicked, had it not been for her blissful expression, complete with closed eyes. </p><p>Justine never opened her eyes once, a feat that impressed Rosabella almost as much  as the dancing itself. </p><p>“She sleep dances,” Ramona said, glancing down quickly. Rosabella suddenly remembered where her hands were and pulled back. “Since I’ve been here, it’s happened at least twelve times. Same dance every night.” </p><p>“And you… watch her every night?” </p><p>“I make sure she doesn’t hurt herself getting back to the dorm.” Ramona looked down at Rosabella again, this time holding eye contact. “I hear when she gets up to leave. Perks of living with a wolf, I guess.” </p><p>Pulling her gaze away from Ramona, Rosabella noticed Justine had stopped moving. She stood, en pointe, both arms raised in an arc above her head, which was facing the ground. </p><p>“That’s my queue,” Ramona said. She went and picked Justine up bridal-style. Rosabella felt her face go hot as she imagined the strength (and by default, muscle) required to carry someone your own age that way, and yet, the effort didn’t even seem to strain the wolf. “I’ll meet you back here in about ten minutes, then we can go break into that classroom. See you then, Rosy.” </p><p>“Okay…” Rosabella did her best to not stutter as she tried to figure out what Ramona meant by break into that classroom. Then, it hit her: the lie she had made up about forgetting her thronework that turned out, thanks to whatever higher power decided to cut her some slack that day, to be true, and… wait, Rosy? </p><p>Normally, Rosabella hated when people would shorten her name. Something about it didn’t sit right with her, almost like they were talking down to her. But coming from Ramona, who only ever called people by their last names, it gave her the feeling that, despite how they had only really begun to talk a few minutes ago, Ramona had already decided that the two would be friends. </p><p>Friends… or something more? </p><p>‘No, no, you can’t think like that’, Rosabella mentally scolded herself. ‘You’ve got a Prince waiting for you. You can’t get attached to someone else. Anyway, she’s a girl.’ </p><p>It wasn’t that Rosabella had trouble with her sexuality. For a while, she had, until she had learned about pansexuality. After that, everything made so much more sense. No, her problem wasn’t a sexuality crisis. It was simply the fact that she wasn’t destined to end up with a girl. </p><p>Rosabella really didn’t give two unicorns’ tails about her story, but her parents certainly did. All she would hear growing up was how wonderful it would be to fall in love with someone, not for their looks, like many people, but for who they were inside. Her branch of the Beauty clan prided themselves on not being shallow (which was ironic in a sense, considering how her great- grandmother had gotten divorced after her grandmother was born, just because her husband wasn’t exactly as she had pictured him). </p><p>If she told her parents that she had feelings for a girl, and one she could very clearly tell was beautiful on the outside, at that, she would never hear the end of it. </p><p>Of course, she could always attempt to date whoever she wanted in secret, but things in Ever After had a way of making it back to parents through the idle gossip that her village especially was famous for. She would rather not risk it, not unless she was sure that person could be The One. In high school, the kids of finding The One weren’t so great, so she decided to ignore the way her face flushed up to the tips of her ears when Ramona called had her Rosy, the way her tell-tale heart hammered in her ears from beneath the floorboards of her chest when she had realized her hands were on Ramona’s back, and most definitely the thought of pressing her lips to Ramona’s to see if the other girl’s lipstick really did taste like cherry (that song would be stuck in her head for the rest of the night, though it was lipstick instead of chapstick). </p><p>“Hey, are you okay?” It was that same deep voice that Rosabella was sure would be playing on loop in her head for the rest of the night. </p><p>“Fine, why?” She could feel her face flush a little. </p><p>“You were just… staring into space,” Ramona said. “We’re going to get your homework, right?” </p><p>“Huh? Oh, yeah! Yeah, I… need that,” Rosabella said lamely. </p><p>The two walked in silence to the classroom where the homework was. It was mostly awkward, but there was a comfort in the silence, knowing they didn’t have to make small talk. </p><p>The classroom, predictably, was locked. Ramona pulled two hairpins out of her hair that Rosabella was sure weren’t there before. She jammed them into the lock and the door clicked open within a minute. </p><p>“Learned that one at the Forest Reform School,” Ramona said awkwardly. “I mean, I’m no Blondie Lockes, but…” </p><p>“But it worked,” Rosabella finished. “Thank you.” </p><p>“Well, I mean… I knew the only ways to get into this room were lock-picking or smashing the lock, and and I just thought I could do something nice for once.” Ramona shifted her weight from foot to foot, looking like she was ready to jump into battle against a wild bear. </p><p>“Well, you didn’t have to do it, so again, thank you.” Rosabella went to the spot where she usually sat during that class and found the twenty page packet. That was due tomorrow. She sighed, knowing it would be a long night trying to finish both that and the signs. </p><p>Ramona insisted on walking Rosabella to her dorm as well. As they stood outside the door, she looked closely at the other girl’s face, squinting. Rosabella’s heart rate sped up again. </p><p>“What are you doing?” She said, perhaps louder than she’d meant to. </p><p>“You have glitter on your face. Right here…” Ramona reached out to swipe it away. </p><p>“Well I was in charge of making signs for this protest tomorrow afternoon and this one guy in our protest group absolutely refuses to pick up any sign that doesn’t have glitter on it and I was working on them before I went to get the thronework and- I’m rambling, sorry, you don’t want to hear my life’s story, don’t mind me, goodnight!” Rosabella found herself reaching for the door handle as she talked. She backed herself into the room quickly and shut the door, not even giving the girl on the other side a chance to respond. </p><p>She sighed as she slumped against the door, mentally cursing herself for feeling and acting so awkward around a new friend. </p><p>“So… you going to tell me who you were talking to out there or am I just supposed to guess?” </p><p>Rosabella jumped. She looked across the room and saw Darling sitting up in her bed. </p><p>“How did you…” she began. </p><p>“You yelled ‘What are you doing?’ and then came in rambling. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that you weren’t alone out there,” Darling smirked. </p><p>Rosabella just sighed again in response. </p><p>&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;</p><p>Over the next month and a half, Ramona and Rosabella became close friends. Ramona appreciated that Rosabella seemed to be less and less  awkward every time they were together. It was a real pain in the crown having to hold up both ends of a conversation. </p><p>She also appreciated that Rosabella no longer lied to get in her business. </p><p>She knew that the activist hadn’t really been going to get her Chemythstry thronework, at least, not originally. Ramona was good at figuring out when people were lying to her. It came with the territory of being a wolf. </p><p>Plus, Rosabella had a habit of pushing up her glasses, no matter how high on her nose they already were, and playing with her earlobe when she lied. It was an obvious tell. </p><p>Ramona noticed herself looking for any and every excuse to spend time with Rosabella. Maybe it’s because, outside of her roommate and her sister, the bespectacled princess was the only one who didn’t go out of her way to avoid Ramona, and who didn’t completely freeze up whenever she tried to strike up a conversation. </p><p>But she felt differently about Justine than she did about Rosabella, and if she felt that way towards Cerise, she’d be in put in a mental institution. </p><p>A lot of their time together was spent deep in conversation about random things. She had told Rosabella the real reason for her exile to the Forest Reform School. Instead of running (so to speak) like she had thought would happen, Rosabella had put her hand on her shoulder and told her the same thing Ramona had been telling herself for over a year: it wasn’t anyone’s fault. </p><p>Rosabella was so full of kindness and compassion to literally everyone, it was hard to believe this was the same girl who had had the nerve to stand there, heart beating so fast Ramona’s keen ears had picked up on it, lying to and demanding an apology from the most feared girl in school, two minutes into their first ever conversation. </p><p>For the first time in her life, Ramona was afraid. Not of a person (though, when Rosabella was standing up for justice, she was terrifying in a way that made Ramona want to do everything she said), but of her feelings. </p><p>She had known for a while that she was a lesbian. That wasn’t what bothered her. It was that, out of all the people to fall for, her stupid heart had to pick a princess with a perfect destiny and a happily ever after waiting for her. Not only that, but Rosabella already had one not-fully-human-but-also-not-fully-animal to put up with. Ramona figured she didn’t need another. </p><p>So, she pushed her feelings down, like she always did. The already thick walls she put up normally just became more fortified. </p><p>Or so she thought. </p><p>Every now and again, Ramona would slip up. She would let her nerves get the best of her, and she would become an absolute wreck. It was quite unbecoming of a big, bad, alpha such as herself (not that she was actually an alpha in her pack, but nobody at either school she’d been to would deny the air of confidence and superiority surrounding her). After one of her slip-ups, Ramona would lick herself away in her dorm for a day or two, avoid Rosabella at all costs, sure that this would finally be the straw to break the camel’s back and send the other girl running. </p><p>She always felt like a moron for doing so when Rosabella would call to check on her at the end of it. </p><p>Still, Ramona pretended that she saw Rosabella as nothing more than a friend. She tried not to panic when the princess would fall asleep on her shoulder in the library near midnight, went out of her way to avoid the touchy-feely parts of friendship she would have relished in. She certainly did her level best to not freak out the day after she had a dream of kissing Rosabella in the moonlight, the two of them on one of the Ever After High’s many balconies after sneaking away from a school-sanctioned dance, soft lips, a warm embrace, roaming hands… </p><p>It came as a complete shock to Ramona when Rosabella asked her out. </p><p>Briar had thrown a technically illegal party and the whole school was going to be there, so of course, Ramona had gone to check it out. She had been invited, but she felt like she was party crashing anyway. Not even Faybelle Thorn received so many looks walking in, and she actually wasn’t invited. </p><p>Ramona walked around the edge of the party. Well, walked wasn’t really the word for it. More like prowled. She knew in the back of her mind what she was looking for, or rather, who. </p><p>She didn’t find Rosabella right away. What she did find was dirty looks from anyone who passed by. ‘Everyone is being ridiculous’, she thought. Ramona knew the rumor about how she had gotten sent to the Forest Reform School. She wasn’t stupid, and she certainly wasn’t deaf. ‘Why are they all taking Cerise’s side on this anyway? What do they know?’</p><p>Ramona also saw Briar and Faybelle making out in a corner. ‘Huh, wouldn’t have ever thought that would happen. Good for them, I guess?’ She shuffled away of the corner as fast as possible, not wanting to be cursed by the fairy. </p><p>“Ramona!” A voice called. She turned to where the voice had been coming from and saw Justine standing with a group of girls. with three girls she recognized to be Meshell Mermaid, Nina Thumbell, and Jillian Beanstalk. Nobody Ramona was interested in hanging out with, and from the looks on their faces, the feeling was mutual. </p><p>“What?” She shouted back to Justine over the music. </p><p>“Quit being creepy and get over here!” </p><p>Ramona walked to where they were, arms crossed, a snarl on her face (though that was just how her face looked in general). </p><p>“Do you need something?” She all but snapped. </p><p>“No, we’re all good. You can back to whatever the hex it is that you were doing in that corner, the sooner the better,” Jillian said, narrowing her eye. </p><p>“Be nice!” Justine chided. </p><p>“No, I get it. I know where I’m not wanted.” Ramona raised her hands in surrender. “I was just leaving anyway.” </p><p>It wasn’t a total lie. She had been considering going back to her dorm and calling her old roommates to see what they were up to for a few minutes now. Circling the room was only entertaining for so long. </p><p>“Ramona, there you are! I’ve been looking all over for you!” Ramona knew that voice anywhere. It was the girl she’d been looking for, as well. But now that she’d already told those girls that she was planning on leaving… to go anywhere else but here… </p><p>“I was just leaving,” she said. And with that, Ramona elbowed her way out of the party, ignoring Rosabella’s calls for her to come back. </p><p>Instead of going back to her dorm like she’d said, she stood on a balcony, leaning on the railing and looking up at the moon. It was in the waxing gibbous phase, meaning a full moon was on its way. </p><p>Looking up at the night sky had always been soothing for Ramona. When she was little, her mother would take her outside at night at least once a week, after Hood Hallow had gone to sleep, to stargaze. Red had a telescope she would bring out, and Ramona would try to name as many constellations as possible. She when went as far as drawing out her favorites and plastering the walls of her room with them. </p><p>Normally, looking at the stars would remind Ramona of the good times she’d had with her mother while she was still young enough that the pack hadn’t cared to watch where she went at night. Tonight though, all she could think about was the dream she’d had last week: Her and Rosabella… a balcony… the night sky above them… </p><p>“Ramona!” Speak of the devil. </p><p>“What are you doing here?” She asked. She could hear Rosabella’s heart beating again. </p><p>“Ramona, I need to tell you something,” Rosabella said. “Listen, I know you play mysterious and aloof just to avoid getting hurt. I know you have reasons for not wanting to talk about your past. I want you to know I don’t care about any of that stuff because I’m in lesbians with you.” </p><p>“Did you just… quote Scott Peasant vs the Kingdom at me?” Ramona asked slowly. The blood seemed to drain from Rosabella’s face.  </p><p>“Did I really just do that? I am so sorry, just forget I said anything, I’ll leave you alone now, have a good night!” Rosabella turned to go back inside. Ramona grabbed her wrist. </p><p>“Wait. Please.” Rosabella turned back around. Ramona took a deep breath. “Do you… maybe want to go get a Hocus Latte with me? Tomorrow, 1 o’clock?” </p><p>“Really?” Rosabella blushed. </p><p>“Only if you meant what you said before.” Ramona gave her a smile, an actual smile, not the snarky one she usually wore.</p><p>“In that case, yes. I would love to.” Rosabella blushed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and Ramona couldn’t help but think about how cute she was. “See you then?” </p><p>“Great.” Ramona realized she was still holding Rosabella’s wrist… no, at some point, she had moved to holding Rosabella’s hand. She quickly let go. Rosabella pecked Ramona’s cheek quickly. </p><p>As the other girl walked back inside, no doubt back to Briar’s party, Ramona turned around and leaned on the railing again, returning her gaze to the sky. </p><p>Now that her drama (if you could call it that) was Rosabella was resolved, Ramona found that the stars were a calming presence once more. </p><p>&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;</p><p>Rosabella sighed and rolled her eyes as her locker closed. Daring Charmimg leaned against it, palm holding the door closed. </p><p>“Hello, Rosabella.” He flashed her his signature, blinding grin, one so condescending it would put Kitty Cheshire to shame. She wasn’t sure if he meant so come off as so egotistical, but she also couldn’t see why every single girl fell for it. </p><p>“Hi, Daring,” Rosabella said kindly. Internally, she braced herself.</p><p>“So, I was thinking… you and I, the Multi Hex Theater, this weekend?” He asked smoothly. There it was. </p><p>Ever since the incident with Crystal Winter’s father two weeks ago, when Daring found out that he was supposed to be the next Beast, he had been flirting with Rosebella non-stop. She knew what the both saw in Sleeping Beauty’s Tower, when Jackie Frost and North Wind used sleeping magic to slow them down. They had seen themselves living out their tale, together. The magic had shown them what they had wanted, deep down. </p><p>Only… it hadn’t. </p><p>The magic had, according to everyone else, shown them their perfect futures, exactly what they wanted to happen in their lives. All except for Crystal Winter, which made sense, considering that the spell was meant to scare her, and Rosabella, who had, for whatever reason, felt as though she was just along for the ride. Though she considered Daring a dear friend, she felt no connection to him or the future she was shown. </p><p>“Oh… uh, I’m busy this weekend. There’s a rally going on in Camelot for troll equality, lot of discrimination going on there, you know, and I want to help.” It was halfway true. There was a rally that Saturday, and she would be in attendance. But the rally began early, and she would be back at school in time for dinner. The rally was just a lame excuse to let Daring down easy, same as she had been doing for the past two weeks. Now, Daring would give some polite excuse for walking away and she would be able to go on with her day. </p><p>“Oh, that’s cool. What about tomorrow? Are you free to grab a Hocus Latte?” He asked.</p><p>That wasn’t supposed to happen. </p><p>“Listen, Daring, you’re very nice and all, but I just-” Rosabella didn’t get to finish her sentence before she was spun around. She found lips pressed to her own. Gasps echoed through the hall around her, and she could pick Daring Charming’s out of the bunch easily. </p><p>As she pulled away from the kiss, she glanced behind her. Daring was awkwardly shuffling away. Rosabella sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day and turned back to Ramona. </p><p>“Was that really necessary?” She asked in an almost exasperated tone. </p><p>“You’ve been telling him to buzz the hex off for two weeks,” Ramona said. “I figured it was about time for some outside interference.” </p><p>“I thought you wanted to keep this a secret? Whatever happened to that?” </p><p> Rosabella recalled their first date when Ramona had told her that she thought it would be best to keep their relationship a secret. She claimed it would save Rosabella unnecessary judgement. She later admitted that she was scared of the whole school knowing her business, which, with Blondie Lockes being the top news source, was very likely. </p><p>“That’s cheesy and cliché anyway,” Ramona said. “Unless I overstepped…?” </p><p>“No.” Rosabella took her hand. “You didn’t.”</p><p>“Well? What are you all looking at?” Ramona snarled a second later at all the people in the hall who were staring at them, mouths agape. “What, you guys have never seen two people kiss before? That’s just pathetic.” </p><p>Everyone went back to what they were doing, though the air was heavy with gossiping whispers. </p><p>“Don’t be mean!” Rosabella swatted Ramona on the arm, though she was holding back a giggle. Ramona just smiled.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you so much for reading!❤️🧡💛💚💙💜</p><p>/╲/( ͡° ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° ͡°)/\╱\ ✬✬✬✬✬✬/╲/( ͡° ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° ͡°)/\╱\</p></blockquote></div></div>
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